Court Upholds Sentence for Train Crash in Yaroslavl Region

The Yaroslavl Regional Court left unchanged the sentence for two railway workers found guilty of a train-bus collision at a crossing in the village of Berendeyevo, Pereslavl-Zalessky district. The accident occurred on 1 April 2024 — seven people died: the bus driver and six passengers; the train driver was injured.

In April 2026, the Pereslavl District Court found Mikhail Barsky, master of road linear section No. 2, and Valery Grishin, a track fitter 3rd class, guilty. Barsky was sentenced to four years of forced labor with 15% of his earnings withheld to the state, and a two-year ban on activities related to railway operations. Grishin was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony.

Disagreeing with the verdict, Moscow Transport Company LLC, Barsky«s defense counsel, and the lawyer of one of the victims filed appeals. However, on 20 July, the Yaroslavl Regional Court, after studying the case materials, upheld the sentence. The court stated: «Having examined the arguments of the appeals and studied the materials of the criminal case, the judicial panel on criminal cases concluded that the sentence is lawful and justified and is not subject to change.» The sentence entered into legal force.

During the investigation, it was established that Barsky had unlawfully allowed Grishin to perform the duties of a crossing attendant, even though Grishin had not undergone special training. At the time of the accident, Grishin was intoxicated. In court, he claimed that the bus driver himself had asked to be let through before the approaching train.

Among the deceased were the 44-year-old driver and six passengers: individuals aged 17, 51, 53, 71, 71, and 75. They included a father of many children, a local medical worker, and a 16-year-old girl. Initially, a technical malfunction of the bus was considered — supposedly it stalled on the crossing. Later, the Governor of Yaroslavl Region, Mikhail Yevrayev, reported that the crossing attendant was drunk.